Faithful Blade
by DoujinGirl
Summary: Zero Kiryu was chosen by the Faithful Blade, however he doesn't have to complete its duty. Kaname Kuran wants to convince Zero to save the world- although he soon realizes nothing is as it seems on his journey to help Zero save mankind from itself. KanameZero.


**I know I said on an A/N over on Demi I wouldn't update anything recently because I was depressed, but… I already began writing this so I thought, may as well put it up. Hopefully its not terrible, 'cause I wrote it all a few days ago. Again, sorry if I'm a disappointment in your eyes (if you don't get it, go read the A/N). **

**And maybe I should just delete this all because it's a new story *goes and sits in an emo corner and grows mushrooms***

**Also, I planned on writing up some of I'll Paint the Path today but now… oh! I don't know. I'd feel bad for doing it, but I'm also going to feel bad for not doing it. I'm a terrible person *mushrooms are growing endlessly***

**Enjoy, and please don't get angry at me for writing this, I can't help it if I write them in my spare time and therefore wanna show the world, I swear, I have no self-control *sticks a white flag in a mushroom on head* TAKE ME CRUEL WORLD! **

CHAPTER ONE- THE WIELDER OF THE BLADE

I hoped we were nearing the town of Kuro, because night was beginning to fall. Although we were certainly be capable of taking care of ourselves, the forests around Kuro were known to be a death trap at night- which was why Kuro had the Faithful Blade inside, along with all its secrets.

This was what we'd come here to find out.

Apparently, my mother was a good friend of Cross. She'd sent him a letter, asking to visit, and he'd sent one back, saying he missed her company and would be delighted for her to visit. He could even show her his 'adorable twins'. Back when I was young, Cross had no children, nor wife, so I was guessing these twins were mere children, since it had only been six years since we last saw him. The oldest they could be would be five.

But Yuuki insisted he was talking about stray cats. There was always that option, too.

Unfortunately, my mother wanted to bring every household with her. Or, rather, my friends. My sister, Yuuki, and I were to travel with our parents, of course, but she'd brought Yuuki's friend Maria, my… friends… Akatsuki, Hanabusa, Ruka, Senri, Takuma, Rima and Seiren. I say 'friends' but the only two I liked were Takuma and Seiren, and Senri was my cousin. I suppose I… admired the others but, it was a bit awkward when Hanabusa and Ruka were clinging to me, and Akatsuki was glaring, though which one he liked I'd never known, and, of course, Rima was Senri's friend, not mine, I hadn't really met her before.

I think my parents were worried about night setting, too, but luckily we could see the walls of Kuro in the distance, large and white and, strangely, very welcoming. Our home was Shiro, and everything there was black. I didn't know whether it had been my mother or Kaien's idea, since they had built them a hundred years ago, to swap names, or whether neither of them had known that Kuro meant black and Shiro meant white. But, seeing the walls ahead meant we couldn't be more than half an hour away. If that.

Still, everyone was alert. Kaien had mentioned in his letter that monsters would appear at dusk to attack the town. Of course, if they got too close, then the Faithful Blade would annihilate them. I hoped we were within annihilating distance.

"What was that?" Hanabusa asked, jumping.

His cousin checked the woods behind us. "There's nothing there, Hana…"

"I saw something! And heard it too- ah! There it is again!" This time, the cousin was pointing into the darkness of the woods.

I shouted over my shoulder, "We don't have time to stop, Aidou, do try to keep up…"

Rushing to my side, Takuma hesitated for a moment before whispering, "Although Kain's just a fire-bender, Hanabusa is half-ice-spirit. His mother was an ice-spirit up at Juyuun and had an affair with his father. Since Hanabusa is half-monster, maybe he can hear something we can't?"

The idea sent the hairs of the back of my neck on end, and I glanced back at the paling Hanabusa, who kept twitching and looking around. "Maybe, but in that case, we need to hurry into Kuro."

Nodding, Takuma tried to help organise the group a bit more, while I walked on a little bit ahead, my parents and sister a long journey before me with Maria, and my 'friends' hanging back. I was about to call out to Yuuki and my parents to stop for a second when another cry beat me to it.

"KANAME-SAMA!"

Quickly, I glanced to my right in just enough time to jump back out of the way of a large hand that slammed down and crushed the earth where I had been standing not long ago. I landed just before my group of friends, and watched, grimacing, as a giant stepped out from the bushes, eyes red and hands ready.

Moving a hand out, I protected my friends, ready for another attack, when a cry broke through the air.

"Chūjitsuna burēdo! Mezameru!"

Just before us, someone landed. Their face was hidden by a hood, and they had something across their back, which they were holding onto. I recognised the dark, twisting blade, with its red jewels immediately. This person, I did not. One arm was covered in strange armour, and they wore black gloves. The other hand had a red, swirling tattoo on it. They had a belt, black shorts, and from the belt were two pieces of armour where sashes tumbled down. Their chest was exposed apart from the hood, which one side of it clipped to the other, and then the other part felt down the first part of his chest. Then the back of the hood went down to his spine. He also had a sash from the armour on his right shoulder and arm that came down across his chest and back up behind his back into the armour again. He had red, circle tattoos on his side. And a red cape came out from under the pink sash that went around his chest. The other sashes were pink, their armour was bronzed, and their other clothing was blue and white, even his buckled boots.

Although looking like they had a female body, the wielder was defiantly male, and I thought he glanced at ups from under his hood.

Then, he tugged on the blade, and the bandages holding the sword in place on his back fell down to free it, and he pulled it from the hold and aimed it at the monster. It glowed before vibrating, sending sound waves of its cry though the area.

The wielder got into a fighting stance. "Number forty-two," they said, and braced themselves. "Raitoningusurasshu!" The user crouched low and then spun upwards. They threw out one leg to balance themselves as the spinning stopped and a bright, blue slash cut through the air and hit the giant.

It's chest exploded, and it began bleeding, but it wasn't done yet.

"Number seventeen," the wielder said, quickly. "Nenshō!"

The monster gave a howl and grabbed at its head, before it burst into flame. The flames died within seconds, and the black, crispy corpse crumbled into ashes. The wielder placed the blade back into its hold and the bandages secured it. "Chūjitsuna burēdo. Neru," he told it, before turning to look at us. "You must be the travellers Cross told me about," he said, but I still could not see his face. "Come inside, quickly, the monsters are coming at this time of night."

He turned and began marching towards the gates, before he crouched and threw himself into the air, flipping and then landing on the wall.

We followed after him until we reached the gates, and then my mother looked up at him, still unable to see his face.

She called, "Where is Cross?"

"I would take you to see him," the man said, "but I'm working. I have to patrol this wall until midnight, or until Cross summons me. But…" he turned and pointed to the largest tower. "He lives in the house at the bottom of that tower. If you get lost, ask the villagers, and they'll kindly give you a hand…" Then there as a scream and the boy disappeared, through footsteps indicated he was running along the wall to the source of the problem.

Someone whistled, and I was it was Seiren. "So, he's the wielder?" she said, smiling. "I should like to be wielded by someone of such experience…"

I smirked. "Am I not intelligent enough?"

The human sword looked at me softly. "Yes. But he is special. He can someone wield that blade without dying…"

I hurried her into the city. "Let's find Cross…" I told her, watching her blade sharp hands soften and go human again after the fight. "Right, mother?"

She smiled sweetly at me as we all hurried into the town. "Yes. And don't be alarmed with how little the people are clothed here. They're all warriors, unlike back at our home, and as you know with the monsters here they must always be ready for battle, especially during their war… That boy was the most clothed person I've seen in this town in a long time."

Rima and Senri did not look impressed by this.

We dressed in Victorian like clothing (I think it's referred to as Steam Punk) with gizmos and gadgets, corsets and hats and pocket watches and sometimes we would have guns. I was sure the two of them would faint at seeing people dressed in almost nothing. But the town was quiet, and we got to the house without seeing a single villager, probably because they were helping the wielder protect the walls of Kuro.

When at the house, my mother went to knock, but the door flung open and someone cried, "Juuri!" in a high pitched voice and embraced her.

Most people were relieved to see Kaien cross wearing a pink, sash scarf, long red trousers and a black vest top, with those same buckled blue and white shoes, and red swirling tattoos up both arms. "Kaien, it's good to see you…" my mother said, and he pulled away.

"Come inside, its nasty and cold out there, Ichiru! Be a dear and put the kettle on!"

As we came inside, the room was white, but lavished. A pair of stairs lead up to the top floor, but the room was round, the shelves covered in books, and an elevated desk sat in the middle of it, where Kaien took a seat.

There were a number of chairs laid out in a semi-circle, so we took them.

"So," Kaien said, taking off his glasses. "What did you want to visit me Juuri?"

My mother cleared her throat. "We want to see the Faithful Blade. Our people are becoming angered by the fact you have it here, protecting you. They think it's unfair, and argue that we should have the blade. But of course, you're dealing with monsters and wars- but still. They are afraid you will use it to rage war on us, or leave others to suffer."

Cross blinks, and then laughed. "Oh Juuri, you're so funny. What makes you think that I, or this town, decide what to do with the Faithful Blade?" My mother, and my father, both looked taken back. "I kept the blade here under out agreement, in the tower, and trained my people to protect it. That's what built this town. However, a child found the blade, and it was then the blade did something amazing…"

"He chose the child?" father asked.

Shaking his head, Cross said, "Oh no, no, no. That's not amazing. The blade does that, but then kills the wielder. No, no. The blade became completely submissive to this child. Strangely enough, that legendary gun of mine, the Bloody Rose, also chose this child as its master. Unfortunately, the wielder has no memories of their past before thirteen, so I can't tell you why…"

My mother looked confused. "So… the blade… does whatever this wielder asks it to?"

Nodding, Cross said, "Yes. The blade adores him. So, you see, asking for him is out of the question. He does what he wants. And he doesn't want to fight the blades battles- and neither does the blade…"

"Then he's selfish!" my mother insisted.

"Who is?" We all looked up to see a young boy, clothed in a shirt and trousers, walking in, with a silver tray of steaming cups.

Kaien smiled. "We're talking about your brother?"

The twin looked a little upset. "Why would Zero be selfish?" he asked.

Kaien quickly held up a hand to sooth him. "Ichiru, they don't know the extend and effect the blade has on Zero, not what it does to others…" Kaien turned back to us. "The blade turns anyone else who touches it to dust, and if anyone hurts Zero, it awakens itself and destroys them with its wail."

My mother refused to relax. "You expect me to be a friend? People out there are suffering and this wielder refuses to do what is best? He is an adult, it is his duty."

"He is not!" Ichiru shouted, stunning the room into silence. "Zero is still a child. He has been burdened with the blade since he was thirteen. He has watched many humans die and try to hurt him, kill him, take the blade! Is it so bad he wants to ignore the problems we, as man kind, are making? What do you expect him to do, take the blade and go behead rapists, murderers? When you, in Shiro, refuse to execute your prisoners?" Kaien looked like he wanted to grab Ichiru, but Ichiru slapped him away. "You have power. You are the queen of this Kingdom. But all you do is sit up there on your throne and let us down here in Kuro take care of everything. Why don't _you _send your son and daughter out to risk their lives to save mankind from itself, and kill people with your own bare hands!?"

"Ichiru…" Kaien warned.

The twin ignored him. "Would you do that? Kill another human being in cold blood? A stranger you don't know, with a blade that hurts you every time you awaken? Would you carry the burden of killing thousands of people on your back for the rest of your life? If you're so righteous and justified, Lady Juuri, then why don't you grab a knife and go out and kill a couple of things? Monsters? Sure, you don't have the faithful blade, but you can go out and protect them, right? Oh? You have to protect your city? Well, so does Zero! And he does! Every second of every day!"

My mother was obviously stunned by this outburst. "What… He is the wielder of the Faithful Blade! The Faithful Blade is supposed to cure the world!"

"And? So?" Ichiru spat. "Everyone in your city sits around and feasts and doesn't have to worry about going to war. Even if they did, they'd be cowards and hide, and wait for you to protect them. Now that war is licking at your walls, you want to use the Faithful Blade? You coward!" My father's fist tightened. "Everyone in this whole fucking world is a coward. If you really want to prove to me that you want to save the world, Juuri, then I want you to say it, covered in the blood of your victims, wounds from the fight, after putting your life endanger to protect a bunch of selfish people you've never met." Ichiru turned away from my mother with a look of disgust. "Zero is selfish? He doesn't expect someone to protect him. You're people do. They are selfish, and so are you, asking a boy of seventeen to risk his life to keep you safe, when you won't even protect yourself. You disgust me! All of you! Don't you dare say another foul word against my brother, or I'll kill you all in your sleep, you're wasting food that could be feed to people who actually follow their own rules." Then Ichiru slammed down his tray and marched out of the room.

Awkwardly, Kaien blushed. "Be thankful it was only Ichiru you were dealing with, and not Kaito and Yori…" he laughed nervously, "people come here and talk badly about Zero all the time. They're then judged by my other three children. Ichiru normally gives them a yelling, and Kaito beats them up, but Yori's real nasty, she slips poison in their food…"

"Why?" my mother asked while I was horrified.

Kaien chuckled. "Simple. They don't want anyone abusing their brother, or treating them badly. Besides, in this town, we have our rules. Respect others, protect yourself, and protect the blade. Everyone in this town sees people as threats- especially people who want to send Zero out on a quest while they themselves are rulers of the world and could easily do what they want Zero to do, but don't want to risk themselves."

My father snapped, "They've brainwashed you."

The blond shook his head. "No. Zero is my son. I love him; and I will protect him. Even from you, Juuri. I am sorry, but, I will not send Zero out to save the world, especially when Shiro doesn't fight for the weak, but hides away and has others protect it…" the door opened. "Ah. Ichiru? Why did you come back?"

The twin looked very angry and stopped before Kaien. "The orphanage is being attacked. The whole village is there to help but its still out of control. Kaito and Yori have already gone. Ten men have been reported dead. We need to go…" Then he handed Kaien a letter. "This is a thank you from Hiroku, the town is safe from over-sea war thanks to our protection, unfortunately a hundred of our men and women died there…"

He dropped the letter and pulled on his coat.

"Y-You can't just take Kaien, we're having a meeting," Juuri insisted.

Ichiru glared full on at her. "I'm sorry. But if you can't fucking control your dirty brother and the monsters he's created, and force your problem onto the rest of the world, you don't deserve the respect, nor place, of a queen, so I can do whatever the fuck I want, thank you very much. If we are Shiro are dealing with Rido, then you should be grateful- but, no, you're not, are you?"

My mother looked like she wanted to slap him, so I said, "What makes you so cocky?"

Ichiru glared at me. "'Cause, you're mother is a bitch and I am right. She was the one who corrupted Rido by having an affair with your father, and now he has decided to destroy the world. But she plays a victim, and relies on her only true friend to clean up her mess- and of course my brother…" He pulled a sword out from a secret compartment, and looked much like he wanted to run me through with it. "So, therefore, she doesn't deserve Kaien's presence."

The man chuckled and drew his gun. "Ignore him, Juuri, he's very angry. And I'm sorry, but, my duties as ruler of Kuro are abandoned the minute people are threatened. If I am needed, I must go, and help my people. Wait around for a bit…"

"Or they could actually do something for once and come and help save innocent lives." His cold eyes crawled over us. "I mean, of course, there's no guarantee you'll live. In fact, some of you may probably die. But are young children not worth you're life? Just like you are not worth Zero's?"

My father glared at me. "We should not be expected to deal with your problems!"

"Zero should not be expected to deal with yours!"

This Ichiru spoke sense, so I got up and walked over to him. "I am going. He's quite right. And if we want Zero to fight, we'll have to fight beside him…" My friends joined me, but my parents stayed still. I frowned. "I'm beginning to see the picture here," I snarled, "Can't wait 'til I'm king of Shiro…"

With that, we followed them to the Orphanage.


End file.
